Common Ground: Voices of Modern Irish Music

Common Ground: Voices of Modern Irish Music is a compilation album, released by EMI Premier Records on May 23, 1996. The concept of this album, assembled by producer Donal Lunny, was to gather over a dozen Celtic and rock musicians with Irish ancestry to perform Irish traditional music, or original compositions with an Irish traditional flavor. The album contains tracks by Maire Brennan, Paul Brady, Andy Irvine, Christy Moore, Elvis Costello and Kate Bush. None of the tracks – including Kate Bush’s version of Mná Na hÉirann – were available elsewhere.

Track listing

The album consists of the following tracks:

1. O’ Bhean A’ti (Máire Brennan)
2. Mary of the South Seas (Tim & Neil Finn)
3. Tomorrow (Bono & Adam Clayton)
4. Cavan Potholes (Sharon Shannon)
5. Help Me to Believe (Paul Brady)
6. On Raglan Road (Sinéad O’Connor)
7. As I Roved Out (Brian Kennedy)
8. The Night Before Larry Was Stretched (Elvis Costello)
9. Mná Na hÉireann (Kate Bush)
10. Whistling Low/Errigal (Dónal Lunny & Davy Spillane)
11. My Heart’s Tonight in Ireland (Andy Irvine)
12. Cathain (Liam Ó Maonlaí)
13. Bogie’s Bonnie Belle (Christy Moore)

Formats

The album was released on CD only. A promotional 5 track CD-single was also made, featuring track 3, 6, 2, 9 and 4 respectively.